Capito, GOP colleagues urge EPA to reevaluate Renewable Fuel Standard proposals

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, recently led more than a dozen of her Republican colleagues in urging the  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider its denial of all 65 outstanding small refinery petitions.

The senators also requested that EPA Administrator Michael Regan rethink the agency’s proposal to set the Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) “at unprecedented levels for 2022,” according to a Jan. 27 letter they sent Regan.

“We are deeply concerned by the EPA’s proposed actions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program,” Sen. Capito and her 14 colleagues wrote. “Proposing to summarily deny all 65 pending small refinery exemptions, which provide critical relief to small refineries experiencing financial hardships imposed by the RFS mandate, runs counter to congressional intent under the Clean Air Act.”

At the same time, they wrote, the EPA’s proposal “for an all-time high” RVO for 2022 does not reflect market realities and is likely to further raise costs for refiners — especially small and independent refiners — and therefore American consumers and the economy.”

Sen. Capito and the lawmakers said they “are puzzled” by the EPA’s actions in these proposals, which neglect their own economic impacts and negate the intent of Congress.

“The federal government does not need to raise additional hurdles through the RFS,” they wrote. “EPA should therefore fundamentally reevaluate its decisions on the outstanding small refinery petitions and its 2022 RVO before finalizing these proposals.”

Among the lawmakers who joined Sen. Capito in signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Steve Daines (R-MT).